Thursday, July 21, 2016

Avocado & Hearts of Palm Salad with Coriander Vinaigrette

When dad and I went to Aldi’s the other day (You do
remember that story, right? If not, you can refresh your memory here.), in addition to
picking up my weight in asparagus (So many delicious recipes are coming!), I
also picked up bunch of coriander (cilantro) about the size of a small Buick. Cilantro is one of
those herbs that people tend to either love or hate – no middle of the road
with cilantro – and I happen to be one of those would love it.Once I got home with it, and cleared a
rather large spot in the fridge, I wondered how I was going to manage to
consume it all. (It has a rather limited shelf…errr, refrigerator…life.) I was
perusing epicurious.com, entering lists of the oddball things that I
had on hand, and up popped this recipe.I made the dressing as stated, but cut way
back on everything else, using only 1 avocado, 3 hearts of palm that I cubed,
and shaved a small handful of red onion on the mandolin until I got what I
thought would be a suitable, but not overbearing amount. It made a wonderful
main dish salad -- very tasty, satisfying, and surprisingly hearty.

The following day I used the extra dressing to dress a potato
salad that I tossed together using baby potatoes cooked until fork tender, slightly
cooled and sliced, along with 2 scallions, diced, 2 hard-boiled eggs, chopped, 2
ribs of celery, thinly sliced, some chopped red pepper left over from the Pimiento Toasts, and a bit of salt and pepper.It was an easy and delicious side dish using,
essentially, what was leftover in the fridge…and no one was the wiser.